Meteorite
by ZHunter
Summary: The gang are now in High School but are no longer 'the gang'. It seems only the impossible could reunite them. But how will they react when the impossible becomes reality. Learning how to rekindle old friendships, old loves, and new lifestyle whilst trying to not only save themselves, but the whole world, all at the same time. Rated T for Language.
1. Prologue - Changes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Recess.**

 **A/N: I am not American and so I apologise in advance if any of my Americanisms are wrong ( would also appreciate it if you told me where they are and what to use instead). Thank you and enjoy.**

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Everything changes. Though that, of course, is understandable. Nothing ever stays the same. Our world; and ourselves, are constantly changing. Things can start slow but end up fast, temperatures rise and fall, surfaces change from rough to smooth, there's truths and lies, control and discord, everything and then - nothing. But that's life, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Many things had changed since the simple days of Third Street Elementary School. A couple new teachers had joined; and then left, there were new desks for all the students, and new lockers for the fifth and sixth graders. The school even splurged a little and treated the students to new swing set and roundabout. But that's not what you really care about is it? No. We are here for the tale of the infamous gang that attended Third Street Elementary many years ago. A gang which consisted of; Gustav Griswald, Gretchen Grundler, Vincent LaSalle, Michael Blumberg, Ashley Spinelli, and Theodore-Jasper Detweiler. Or as you probably know them; Gus, Gretchen, Vince, Mikey, Spinelli, and T.J.

However, as strong as their friendships where, the once believed to be inseparable gang of best friends had separated. The once unbreakable rope that had tied them all together had began to fray as they moved to middle school - as they took up different hobbies and made more friends than they had had before - and by Freshman Year, at Eighth Street High School, the rope had snapped in two. And now? In Senior Year? Let's just say that the rope that held them together not only snapped in High School but disintegrated as the years continued.

Gus had probably changed the most of the whole gang, well at least physically. No longer was he the short and some what cowardly boy that he had been in his youth, he had quite the growth spurt between 7th and 9th grade - now being one of the tallest students in the whole school at 6ft 2". The drifting away of the gang had affected him the most, unlike the others Gus wasn't the best at being able to make friends and thus became fairly distant and isolated from, well, everyone. He spent most of his free time at the school gym. He wasn't one of those physique obsessed boys who only go to the gym to 'look good' and 'get the real hot babes'. He mostly just liked to stay fit and it gave him something to do. It also allowed him to make acquaintances at the gym so he wouldn't have to sit alone at lunch, sometimes they were fun but most of the time they were just boring. And although Gus did love to stay healthy his one and only unhealthy act was eating a bowl or two of popcorn while watching some classic films - he was quite the underground film fanatic, which is probably why when the chance for him to work at the local movie theatre came up he snatched the offer straight away.

Gretchen, on the other hand, was practically the same as she was in Elementary school. Still tall and lanky, with incredible intelligence and an obsession with the sciences - hoping to become an astrophysicist when she is older. However her once overly big glasses were replaced with more fitted and rounder ones and her old, lowly tied bunches were replaced with a messy ponytail, always tied with a light blue scrunchy. Her teeth, once beaver-like, are now moving into the acceptable positions that society demand with the help of shining silver braces. Gretchen had a few _friends_ , all in advanced mathematic and science classes such as herself, and all overly prided on their own intelligence. Gretchen often found herself, like Gus, bored when she was with her friends - it was always science and math talk and, although those topics were Gretchen's passion and favourite things to study, she would appreciate a little diversity when it came to conversation every now and then. Lucky for Gretchen, she only had to see them in school as the majority of them spent any free time studying and being social awkward. Gretchen on the other hand loved to explore and see new things and, once she had learned to drive, managed to find a planetarium in the next town over where she often went and even managed to get a small job working in the gift shop.

Basketball star, track champion, and school heart-throb. Vince was a very, if not the most, popular student at Eighth Street High. Most jocks are popular in High School though aren't they. Though with great popularity comes great fake-ness. Surrounded everyday by mediocre and insignificant conversations spat from the mouths of fake people can easily become insufferable. But, Vince never did anything about it. He managed to live with it and mainly focus on trying to achieve a scholarship in athletics to any college he could get. Physically he had grown taller and, obviously with masses of exercise and sports, had developed a fair amount of muscle - to add to this he had been nominated most attractive male in his year every single year of high school. However, unlike Gretchen's friends, he was often invited out to parties with excessive drinking and occasionally drugs. A few times Vince had agreed to go along - mostly from fear of being ridiculed but the others and called a pussy - and every time he had gone he had found himself holding some girls hair while she threw up into the toilet and have the same said girl cry on him because of a fight with a friend or a shitty boyfriend. Let's just say from past experiences Vince wasn't much of a big fan of the party lifestyle and much preferred some quiet alone time, with some good tunes and every now and he might go shoot some hoops too. That was more than enough for him.

Mikey, still large both in height and body mass, was a creative genius locked in a teenage body. Head of the theatre club and an active member of the High School's glee club, Mikey was still incredibly fond of the theatrical arts. He also excelled greatly in English and was an advanced student - which always looked good when applying for colleges. Although Mikey's goal is to travel the world and perform at the Globe, he was rational and knew that nowadays not everyone is _in love_ with the theatre and it may not be the best career choice. So instead of devoting every second of every day to theatre like some people, Mikey spent most of his free time volunteering, sharing his caring and loving nature with poor abandoned creatures at the local animal shelter and helping who he can whenever he can - often partaking in local charity events and activities. Unlike the others, Mikey actually had several friends who he highly appreciated and enjoyed to spend time with, though, this still didn't stop him from being the perfect target for bullying from other students. Often mocked for his size, softness, and passion for the theatre, Mikey sometimes found it difficult to deal with the bullying - but always managed to overcome it and look at things positively.

Spinelli, now begrudgingly called 'Ash' by teachers and fellow students as the High School didn't ' _seem it fit to call student solely by their surname'_ , was still as tough as nails. Though no longer partaking in kickboxing and wrestling tournaments herself, like she did in Elementary School and Middle School, she still knew enough to make any sucker regret crossing her in the wrong way. And being the kind and generous gal that she is, it only seemed right to her to pass her knowledge and tricks of the trade down onto the younger generations, and so a junior kick boxing and wrestling trainer (in training) she became. Though that doesn't mean that Spinelli is all nails and cement. Part of the art and photography classes in High School, Spinelli had become quite the cultured and creative being. Though still attached to her boots and leather jacket, she now often stuck to wearing old jeans and shirts - riddled with paint and ink stains. Spinelli hadn't grown much over the years, coming to a moderately average 5ft 6" (if the gang were still together she would definitely be the shortest again), however her olive skin always seemed to glow and her chestnut eyes had become softer. She had grown to become a very attractive young woman, not that she believed that though. Spinelli, more or less, got along fine with everyone, though is you asked her who her friends were she might take a while to reply.

And last, but not least. The incredible, the infamous, T.J. Detweiler! Like the rest, T.J. had grown since Elementary school, though less that the other males of the old gang, coming only to 5ft 9" and a half (the half was very important to him). However, ever since 8th Grade T.J. has been going through his 'rebellious phase', and doesn't seem to want to leave. Pranks and jokes are mainly is forte, nothing too criminal, and he often finds himself stuck in detention for doing this and not doing that. T.J. had friends, though they mostly just liked him for the laughs, as all they ever talked about was what prank they would do next. T.J. didn't partake in any clubs nor did he have a favourite lesson, he saw school as a pointless chore that wasted his youth and the sooner he could leave the better. The same can be said for his home, his mom always seemed to be nagging him and that combined with his parents fighting more than ever made him want to get out of that house asap. He took extra night shifts at the gas station to avoid his parents as often as he could - and he made money while doing so, tender - but every now and then he'd still end up getting nagged or them fighting or both at the same time. Sometimes, T.J. would just go sleep in his old tree house, the roof was starting to fall apart and it seemed smaller than it had when he was younger but at least is was a place to call his own.

And that's the gang. You're up to date. It would probably take something incredible and miraculous to bring them back together and that's unlikely to happen. But who knows. After all, everything changes.


	2. Chapter 1 - Tuesday

**Disclaimer: I do not own Recess.**

 **A/N: I am not American and so I apologise in advance if any of my Americanisms are wrong (would also appreciate it if you told me where they are and what to use instead). Thank you and enjoy.**

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High School. I don't know about you but it always reminded me of an ants nest. Riddled with far too many beings, and some of them bite. Perhaps this was why Gretchen Grundler always came into school half an hour early every school day, to avoid the swarms of bodies that push and shove they way in every morning. Though, she would argue that coming in early was an effective way to heighten brain activity before a day of learning. Definitely not to avoid people and get a good parking spot, don't be ridiculous.

For her 17th birthday Gretchen had been given a two seat pickup truck, at first she thought this to be a strange choice of car for her but found it to be incredibly useful as it allowed for her to take her large, and extremely expensive, telescope to the top of different hills allowing her to fully appreciate the night sky (and even though hills had the best vantage point for looking at the stars she much preferred going to the -somewhat overgrown- old park where no one ever went, it was more peaceful there). Her pickup - which she loving named 'Hypatia' after the famous astronomer, mathematician and inventor Hypatia of Alexandria - was always parked in the far back corner of the parking lot, underneath a large cherry blossom tree. Gretchen found this tree to be both beautiful and irksome as during the fall her car would be covered in leaves and petals.

With the extra half hour that Gretchen had she would usually spend in her homeroom studying and going over class notes, or occasionally reading an article or two on her phone about the newest scientific advancement in medical research or the newest plans for future space travel. Never did she have to rush homework or essays before class because she always did them the day they were set, she was organised. Though this particular morning she wasn't the first one in homeroom. Vince LaSalle was sat at his usual seat at the back of the class, slouched in his chair staring at his phone. As Gretchen came in he glanced up, before looking away and back down to his phone - he didn't seem to care she was there. Surprisingly, Gretchen and Vince had had homeroom together every single year of high school, but unsurprisingly they had never said a word to one another.

Gretchen wondered why he was in so early, but her thoughts were soon consumed by her notes from yesterday's Advanced Physics class. Vince's thoughts on the other hand weren't as focused, his mind seemed to be all over the place and had been for a while. He was stressed. His grades were only just hitting averages, he had the big basketball game on Thursday and race for track on Friday, Ashley A. (his girlfriend of just over five months) was driving him up the wall with the constant partying every weekend, and to top it all off he forgot his lunch money! Very stressful indeed. He hasn't been able to sleep very well lately because of all the stress, and has come accustomed to the casual night stroll - except last night's stroll started at four in the morning and ended at school. He scrolled through the various songs on his phone trying to find a good one to sooth his slow-growing stress induced headache, he settled with Raphael by CocoRosie thinking of what his friends would say to him if they ever found out he listened to such 'weird, pansy, bitch' music as he pressed play.

The clock ticked on, and Vince and Gretchen sat in silence. Gretchen went from Advanced Physics, to Advance Biology, to Advanced Chemistry. And Vince went from Raphael, to Hopscotch, to By Your Side. Fellow students began to enter into the home room and Vince couldn't help but notice when some girl - he had no idea who, but she looked nerdy - came in and sat next to Gretchen all they did was extend a friendly 'hello' to each other before burying themselves in books. Gretchen, of course, was used to this somewhat unsociable-ness that came from Annabelle, and other students like her who preferred books; and studying, than people. By this point it was officially nine o'clock and their homeroom teacher came in to take morning registration and, not that Vince was surprised, Chad Beso came in late. Chad Beso was, like Vince, a popular jock and, unlike Vince, was a giant dick. Vince unlocked his phone and closed his music app so that Chad wouldn't be able to pick fun at him, though I very much doubt that would stop him.

"Mornin' Vinnie!" Chad clambered down next to Vince and slapped him on the back as a friendly 'bro' greeting. "Did ya heard about Sammy and Ashley Q? Hahaha, oh man! What a mess, right? Oh man let me tell you…" Chad's drabble went on and on and Vince managed to tone most of it out, just giving the occasional nod here and there convinced Chad that 'Vinnie' was listening to the oh so important news.

The school bell chimed and everyone began to leave for their lessons, Gretchen collected her things and put them back in her bag even though she knew she would have to get them back out again in just a moment as she had Advanced Biology and Math first thing before lunch. She left the room quickly in hopes to move through the corridors before every student fought their way to their respective classrooms. Vince on the other hand took his sweet time, attempting to delay the next hour and a half he would have to spend with Mr. Eger in World History. Vince made his way, in the opposite direction from his forgotten friend Gretchen, towards his locker taking out his History and note book and turning off his phone putting it away - knowing that if Eger even saw an _outline_ of a phone in a pocket that he'd take it away. He wasn't the first to World History but he wasn't late. He took at seat at the back of the class - he almost always sat at the back. And so did someone else, Gus, though that was mainly because he got sick of people saying that they couldn't see the board because of him. Gus sat with only a seat between him and Vince, no one sat in that seat next to them - surprisingly World History wasn't that popular of a subject - and a couple of times Vince would ask Gus if he could borrow a pencil and if Gus was sick when he would come back he would ask Vince what he missed to which Vince would just reply by letting him borrow his notes. Sometimes they even saw each other at the school gym and would exchange a small and quick smile but that was all that was left of their friendship; careless smiles, pencils, and class notes. The second bell rang indicating that the lesson had begun but Mr. Eger still wasn't there - and he was never late.

A tired looking temp teacher walked through the door, sat down at the desk and started using a laptop, she took registration and then made the announcement that "Mr. Eger isn't in today so he has left you with this documentary to watch on Ancient Egypt, he want's you to know that this is not a free lesson and expects you all to take notes and prepare for a pop quiz on Ancient Egypt when he gets back." the class collectively sighed and groaned and the temp started the documentary, on the box like TV that was mounted to the wall, before leaving. Vince slouched back in his chair, regretting putting his phone away, and Gus leaned forward into his hand, paper and pencil at the ready even though he knew that he probably wouldn't take that many notes.

The time dragged on painfully before the bell rang again, and Vince and Gus left each other without saying a word. Vince now had basketball practice and went to his locker to put back his books and get his gym locker key, Gus on the other hand now had free lesson, usually Gus spent free lessons in the gym but today he felt like going outside. Eighth Street High School was a fairly big school, with two auditoriums (one for theatre and announcements the other for indoor sports), a large canteen and a outdoor eating square, a football and track field, and student and staff parking. So Gus had no problem finding somewhere quiet to sit, he decided to go through the canteen and to the outdoor eating square since it was a nice day. The square was, well a square - two sides made from the walls of the High School and the other two sides made from fence that looked out onto the car park. In the square there were picnic tables for people to eat at and in the middle of the square was a tall oak tree that had benches built around it to form a long sort of circle bench - simply called the circle bench by students.

Gus went to go and sit down at one of the picnic tables - the one in the furthest corner - when he heard voices talking. "Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love." It was Mikey, dramatically reading an extract from Hamlet - or as Gus thought 'some Shakespeare shit' - to some of the other theatre kids. In seeing that Mikey was here Gus decided to go back inside and sat at a table in the canteen, he pulled out his Math book from his bag and some potato chips, he knew he should of done his Math homework over the weekend but The Lost Boys trilogy was just screaming his name and he couldn't resist. Mikey and him were the last members of the group to become distant. In middle school, 7th Grade was when everyone really started to fall away from each other and Mikey and Gus where the last to hit the ground, it wasn't until 8th Grade that Mikey joined the theatre group and eventually left Gus behind, unintentionally of course but that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Mikey's theatre group was and out of school group - for both high schoolers and middle schoolers - and he usually spent his time with other members of the group as they all shared the same interests. However, he often found their behaviour towards others, well, rude.

"Oh bravo Michael! Bravo!" Benjamin applauded, and so did the few others who were there with him - Cynthia, Claude, and Nancy. Benjamin was your typical drama kid; dressed in all black, wore a beret, and was constantly quoting any and every literary piece of work he could.

"Very well enunciated, a grand read indeed. However, I still think we should stick with doing Macbeth instead of Hamlet - I personally think Macbeth to be the better of Shakespeare's works, don't you?" He asked turning to the others, they nodded in obedient agreement - one never disagrees with Benjamin, head of theatre group - and Benjamin then began reciting extracts from Macbeth and mumbling about who would play who. Mikey sat down with a sigh, for once he would like to do a performance _he_ wanted. Sure he loved all of Shakespeare's works but he really, really, _really_ wanted to do Hamlet this time.

Mikey looked around the square and appreciated the beautiful day mentally noting to himself to take the animals, at the shelter, outside today. Benjamin handed Mikey a copy of Macbeth, knowing him out of his thoughts and back into the reality of theatre group leaders who evidently only do what they want no matter how good your performance of Hamlet is. Time dragged on slowly and they read Macbeth and before Mikey knew it, it was lunch.

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 **A/N: More to come! Things will get very interesting very soon ;)**


	3. Chapter 2 - Lunch Time and Loney Kids

**Disclaimer: I do not own Recess.**

 **A/N: I am not American and so I apologise in advance if any of my Americanisms are wrong (would also appreciate it if you told me where they are and what to use instead). Thank you and enjoy.**

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The cafeteria quickly became packed full, each clique had their own table - the jocks, aka Vince, were sat in the centre of the cafeteria spreading across two tables. Theatre kids, aka Mikey, were sat out in the square still but if the weather got bad then would sit at the table next to the trash cans. The nerds, aka Gretchen, sat at the table nearest to the main cafeteria door, so that once lunch was over they could get out of there asap. The gym rats, aka Gus, sat a few tables over from the jocks, occasionally interacting with each other. The arty kids, aka Spinelli, sat in a table in the corner away from everyone else.

"Look at them all, so blind and careless of what is around them." Said Judy, a former Third Street and a new art obsessed student transferring from Geography to Art only three weeks ago, as she watched other students around them throw their trash on the ground. The other art kids at the table agreed with Judy, but Spinelli was never one to conform.

"Well, are _you_ gonna pick it up?" she questioned before taking a bite of her sandwich. Judy looked taken aback for a second, not quite yet adjusted to Spinelli's straightforwardness.

"Well-uh-no, but-"

"You'll have to excuse Ash, Judy. She, like the great work of Dali, can be difficult to understand at first - but eventually you'll grow to love and appreciate her. "said Bill Mathews, a short (at least for a boy), artsy-fartsy, good guy, who had once dated Spinelli in 7th Grade but she dumped him after about three months, however the kid just never seemed to quit. He was about to sit next to Spinelli and put his tray of food down on the table when suddenly someone slapped it out of his hands, spilling food and drink all over Bill and a little got on Spinelli too.

"What the hell!" Cried Bill, the cafeteria all seemed to look over too him. And the culprit of this crime? None other than our own T.J. Detweiler. T.J looked down at Bill, a smug smile over his face.

"Fucking loser." He muttered as he walked away.

"What an asshole." Judy said as the cafeteria went back to it's usual state, "Did anything get on you Ash?"

"Ah only a little, you on the other hand," she said looking at Bill, "you might wanna go clean yourself up." She couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the sight of him, his drink had spilt down his pants making it look as if he'd had an _accident_. The rest of the table began to laugh as well at the sight of him.

"Very funny," Bill said picking up and throwing away his, now ruined, lunch. "I'll see you all later then." He left seeming not angry but more embarrassed, as Bill left he walked past where T.J. and the other trouble makers were sat, laughing at him also, probably making the embarrassment worse. Spinelli saw this and felt bad for Bill, she looked over to where T.J. sat. And he looked at her, and then they both looked away.

The joke played on Bill didn't go unnoticed, the jocks and gym rats found it hysterical, the theatre students found it to be an horrible act that could lead to many woes, and the nerds found it to be idiotic and a waste of time.

"Honestly, I used to feel bad for our fellow, less academically inclined school-mates. But their primitive minds evidently aren't worth worrying over since they obviously enjoy acting like absolute buffoons." Emily Scott snorted, the others at Gretchen's table laughed too. Emily was one of the smartest students in the whole of Eight Street High, second to Gretchen of course. She was considerably shorter than Gretchen, with a short, scruffy blonde bob and thick glasses that made her eyes look five times bigger than they actually were. Gretchen wasn't all too fond of Emily, some of the other people in her friend group - like Annabelle and Mark - were nice, quiet, but nice. Emily was not. She was loud, bossy, and her laugh was the most annoying thing that Gretchen (and anyone for that matter) could fathom. Gretchen once overheard someone describe it as if it were the scream of a child whose mom was a witch and dad was a pig. That made Gretchen laugh because it was the most accurate thing she had ever heard.

Emily continued to cackle-snort at her own...joke? Gretchen wasn't sure what she was laughing at really. But it caught the attention of a few other people in the cafeteria, in particular some of the cheerleaders and jocks. It was almost time for next lesson and so Gretchen collected her things, threw her trash in the trash can, and then turned to Emily and said, "Well I don't suppose you ever considered that they weren't acting like buffoons, but were actually being funny? Although, I suppose you're not all too familiar with that concept, are you?" and with that, she left. Emily's jaw hung open slightly, never had Gretchen displayed such, such, sass! As Gretchen left she heard a faint "Scandalous!" from the Ashley's, and smiled in appreciation for her - as the other teens her age would say - sick burn.

The day rolled on as slow as any Tuesday at school would, and by the time of the end of the day came about every student was both excited and tired. Students left the school in loud commotion, desperate to leave and discussing with their friends what they would do when they got home.

"Oh! Gretchen!" Came a soft voice from beside her.

"Yes, Annabelle?"

"I meant to tell you earlier but um, did you hear about the meteorite that the, um, scientists think will land somewhere near our town? I remembered you loved space the most and thought...you might, want to um know." Annabelle was a small and delicate girl, with long brown hair often covering her face, and an incredible amount of social anxiety.

"I did hear something about that, yes. It sounds very interesting, I'll have to look out for it, I'll tell you if I see anything tomorrow." Gretchen got her keys out of her bag and headed towards her car, "Would you like a ride home?" Annabelle shook her head, but had a smile on her face, and waved goodbye. Gretchen waved back and got into her car, it was April at the moment and so there weren't any leaves and petals of her car which was good, what wasn't good was the three marks of bird shit on her car. Gretchen decided she'd take it to the car wash tonight before she went to go watch for the meteorite.

Gretchen started up Hypatia and began to drive off but gave way to a school bus that were also leaving, however our two athletes, Gus and Vince, were not boarding on the bus. Gus went to the gym, as perusal, and Vince had even more basketball practice before the game on Thursday. The bus did contain a very gloomy Spinelli though, sat at the back, alone. Ever since Lunch she'd been really quiet and didn't want to talk to anyone. Though, as she felt the familiar _buzz, buzz_ , of her phone in her jacket pocket she knew that her plan of not talking to anyone had been foiled.

 **Bill:** **Heya Ashy,**

Spinelli's face scrunched up, she hated that nickname more than plain old Ashley.

 **just wondering how ur doing, u seemed pretty down in art, get back 2 me soon x**

At first Spinelli felt like just ignoring the message but she knew, unfortunately from experience, that if she didn't reply he'd just keep sending the same kind of message over and over.

 **Ash:** **I'm fine, just ain't feeling all that great,**

That's a lie - sort of.

 **probably gunna sleep as soon as I get home,**

That's not a lie.

 **so i'll talk to you later**

That's definitely a lie. She put her phone on 'Do Not Disturb' and stuck it back in her pocket. Unluckily for her she forgot her earphones today and so she had to listen to the blend of laughter, gossip, and non stop shit spewing that seemed to be coming out of _every_ single _goddamn_ mouth on this bus. And even more unfortunately for her, the cause of her quietness and discomfort just so happened to be on this very same bus. T.J. was sat in the middle of the bus with a few of his friends and he hadn't seemed to of noticed that Spinelli was there, but he'd notice soon enough.

As the journey went on more and more people got off the bus, and only two stops before his stop is where the last of T.J's friends got off so he was alone. Or so he thought. He looked around the now moderately empty bus and noticed a familiar face right at the very back. He got up, walked to the back, and sat himself down in the seat next to Spinelli. She moved away from him little, her arms crossed.

"So…" T.J. started. "how's your day be-"

"Leave me alone T.J." Spinelli said as the bus pulled up to their stop, after all these years they still lived on the same street but only recently have Spinelli and T.J. started, somewhat, talking to each other again. Well not really, the Detweiler's invited the Spinelli's over for Christmas since the power went out at the Spinelli house, and if you thought their lack of a friendship was bad it got even worse after what happened then.

Spinelli got off the bus first and walked as fast as she could back to her house, leaving T.J. at the bus stop, alone.

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 **A/N: I'd like to give a very big thank you to Trampled Under Foot for their lovely review :)**


	4. Chapter 3 - Stargazing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Recess.**

 **A/N: I am not American and so I apologise in advance if any of my Americanisms are wrong (would also appreciate it if you told me where they are and what to use instead). Thank you and enjoy.**

* * *

Vibrant oranges and red's welded together, igniting the evening sky in fiery colour. The sun was setting and night was slowly consuming the entire town. Eighth Street High was now closing and so the gym rats and jocks had to clean up and leave. The parking lot was practically empty, and the buses were all done for the day. Chad offered Vince a ride home, but Vince declined - he told him that his mom needed him to get some groceries last minute. She didn't. He walked home, comforted by the low steady beats of his chillhop playlist, but he didn't walk alone. A couple of paces behind him was Gus, if they were still in Elementary School Vince would of waited for Gus and Gus would of walked faster to catch up. But this wasn't Elementary School, this was High School - and they weren't friends anymore. The sky grew dark, fast, and the streets filled with traffic. Red. Amber. Green. The cars began to move speedily across the road that both Vince and Gus needed to cross. The stood next to each other at the crossing, waiting for the lights to change. Green. Amber. Red. The cars stopped, they crossed the street. And then, like their friendship, they went different ways.

Gus had planned on watching _The Goonies_ when he got home, but his boss, from the movie theatre, had called and told him that he had to do a night shift since Marlo was out sick. So instead of watching an exciting adventure between a group of friends (then reminiscing on his days at Third Street Elementary) when he got home, he had a shower and got dressed for work - leaving his phone at home since it was on 17% and had to charge.

Vince, on the other hand, didn't have the pleasure of being able to put down his phone and leave it for a few hours. As soon as he got home his phone practically exploded with messages from Ashley A - apparently he had forgotten about some date they had arranged to go on, he tried apologizing but then she got mad at him for always apologizing! He spent the next hour or two trying to talk to her and sort everything out but, as all their fights did, it just ended with her ignoring him and leaving his messages on read.

Vince felt pretty done with the day, and so did T.J. though that wasn't because of Ashley A, it was because of Ashley S. That and the fact that as soon as he came home he was greeted by his mother screaming down the phone at who he presumed to be his dad - he presumed correctly, it was. T.J. didn't do much with his time after school - he read a couple comic books and played some video games - before deciding that he could do with some over time and went to work at the gas station - he already had the late night shift (10pm - 1am), but Al probably wouldn't mind extra work. T.J. took out his bike from the garage - he tried to learn to drive but failed his test, twice - and cycled to the gas station, carelessly throwing his bike in some bushes behind the rickety roadside gas station, once he arrived.

"T.J? The hell you doing here early?!" Yelled the large, heavily tattooed man - who had an incredibly thick Brooklyn accent - known as Big Boss Man Al, Al for short.

"I, uh, was thinkin' of doing some overtime Al, that ain't an issue is it?" T.J. replied, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"Depends, you expecting me to pay you?"

"Eh, you don't have to pay me if you don't wanna - at least not for the overtime." T.J. went and sat behind the counter - knowing that Al would probably say 'yes' as he has never said 'no' to free overtime before.

"Alright then, well since you're here I'm going back home, call me if you need me and finish unpacking those boxes," he pointed over to some boxes in the middle of an aisle then slammed a $20 bill on the counter, "for ya troubles." he said before he left. T.J. pocketed the bill and got back from behind the counter - he picked up the label gun that Al had left on the floor and started pricing each magazine that was in Box A, after that he'd restock the shelves with the junk food and candy that was in Box B. Then he'd take a magazine, and some junk, and sit back at the counter until 1am.

It was a fairly quiet shift for T.J. at the gas station. About 7 or 8 people had come in - mostly adults who were on there way back from work - and there hadn't been anything since. Well, that was until 11 o'clock struck and a two seat pickup drove into the wash section (which was just a hose and a sponge, but it was cheap so no one complained) before refilling their tank. Gretchen walked into the station seeing T.J. automatically - she didn't know he worked here, but she usually filed her car in the mornings so maybe that was why, and hey, they weren't friends so how would she know. Before paying for the gas and the wash she scoured the aisles and picked out _Astronomy Weekly_ from the magazine section and got a bottle of water. Gretchen paid by card and the whole transaction was done quickly, she left the store with a bitter and sad feeling in her gut - memories of her times at Third Street flooded her mind as she pulled away from the station and from her old friend. She remembered all the fun they would have and how different everyone was and how well they all used to work together and...and then she recollected on her life now. Bland, boring, and filled with books. No slumber parties where slumber never happened, no breaking into school and beating up bad guys to save the world, no plots and pranks, no adventure! Just, nothing.

Gretchen snapped out of her somewhat depressing train of thought as she came to a turn point, she went left she made her way up towards a hill that looked over the whole town. The road to the hill was overgrown and hardly ever used - it was connected to the overgrown that park also loved to visit, but tonight she needed a higher vantage point. There was a tree atop the hill, a sycomore. The hill in itself was fairly flat, allowing Gretchen to park up on top and not have to lug her telescope up it. The night sky was clear and filled with to the brim with twinkling stars. It was quite beautiful.

Gretchen didn't have any homework to do as she had done _everything_ a week in advance, which meant that when she got home from school she had had plenty of time to research the meteorite. With every hour that went by came a new update as it came closer to our Earth. Gretchen had read that the meteorite wasn't particularly big (about the size of a soccer ball), and that it was predicted to break apart into several pieces as it entered the atmosphere making it even smaller - and more difficult to spot. Gretchen had managed to approximate coordinates for where abouts it would land, if it stayed on it's current track, and set up her telescope in that direction. Once everything was ready all she had to do was wait.

Waiting can be painfully boring, sitting around and doing nothing for hours upon hours. Someone who wasn't waiting around for hours though was Vince. Once again finding himself unable to sleep he went out for a walk, he had been walking for about an hour, not really paying attention to where he was going until it occurred to him that he was lost. Wherever he was it was incredibly overgrown, the grass was tall and thick, moss covered the tall trees, and there was absolutely no sign that anyone had been here in years. He continued to walk though, feeling both slightly afraid and excited on his little adventure, before his feet went from practically sinking into the soft mud to stomping on the familiar hard surface of concrete. He found a clearing, it was a large rectangular slab of concrete, surrounded by a collapsing fence and covered with faded paint. Ah yes, he knew what _this_ was, but where was the-

"Hoop!" he exclaimed as he saw the tall basketball hoop at the other side of the court. If only he had brought a ball, he was down for shooting some hoops without the coach breathing down his neck every other second. He made a mental reminder to come back here with a ball. In the meantime, Vince sat on the ground and looked up to the stars through the clearings in the trees.

A couple of hours had passed by and both Gus and T.J. were done with their night shifts. T.J. had managed to make it home fairly quickly on his bike, but he regretted not taking his time as he rounded the corner to his block and heard his parents yelling from all the way down the street, he sighed and went straight into the back yard and into his tree house - not bothering to tell them that he was home. He looked up at the night sky through the gaps and missing planks of wood from his tree house roof, and sighed.

Gus, on the other hand, had a fair bit of walking to do until he was home, everything was quiet - the roads were still and there wasn't a soul in sight. The street lights cast an orange shadow on the whole city, and Gus found it rather peaceful but also slightly apocalyptic.

And Mikey? Mikey was already home, he'd gotten back from the animal shelter hours ago and had decided to do some reading. He found himself reading Macbeth - as it was now the play they were doing in school - and though reading a Shakespearean classic often brought him pleasure, this time it did not. Instead it acted as a selfish reminder that Mikey couldn't have what he wanted and he was too gentle, too weak, to fight for it. He put down Macbeth and stared out at the stars, his hands hanging out of the window, feeling the faint breeze dance through his fingers.

All of them, the whole gang, was quiet and somewhat depressed. Well...except from Spinelli. Spinelli had a loud heavy metal song blasting through her headphones as she aggressively attacked her canvas with different shades of blue and red. The song eventually ended and so did she, she took a step back and tried to think, what was this piece? What did it mean? She looked at the welding of colours, how the red on the canvas was bigger than the blue - but the blue still shone through. It reminded her of a familiar red hat and pair of blue eyes, T.J. She let out a groan and kicked her easel, knocking the piece over. Stomping over to her bed she threw herself on it, looking out the window from on her back. She stayed that way for awhile, before sighing and doing what she has done almost everyday since she was in kindergarten. She sat up, and looked over to T.J's house. Resting her head on her hand as she did so.

A bright light raced through the sky, before breaking apart into six smaller - but equally as bright - balls of light. Spinelli stared up in confusion, she didn't remember hearing any fireworks. But before she could question any further one of the balls of light flew towards her. An electrifying sense of pain shot through her chest and wrapped around her heart - she screamed out in pain before collapsing and drowning in darkness.

T.J. sat up. Did he just hear somebody scream? He was about to leave the tree house and investigate but was stopped by something colliding with his hatless head, submerging him in pain before causing him to blackout.

The lights that exploded in the sky didn't go unnoticed - Gretchen saw them too and went to get her camera to document it but was stopped by a shooting feeling of pain being stabbed into her leg - then Gretchen, too, fell into darkness.

Gus has just gotten to his house and was about to unlock his front door when his clumsy, sleep-deprived self knocked over a hanging plant. He stretched to try and catch it, his shirt hiking up in the process when suddenly pain clawed at his hip, at first he thought he had pulled something but then the pain ripped through his skin and got worse and before he could even scream he was unconscious.

Mikey was about to call it a night and go back inside when he saw a bright light come speeding towards him and hit him straight on the back of the hand, he fell back in pain and rolled of his bed before passing out on the floor, clutching his hand.

Deciding he had had enough star gazing for one night, Vince got up and decided to head home. He ducked under trees and marched through the tall grass, heading in the direction he thought was home. Vince screamed and collapsed to his knees, agonising pain burst from the back of his neck, rattled his bones, and then - nothing.

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 **A/N: Once again I'd like to thank Trampled Under Foot for their lovely reviews, and also jhwlgh, and JACK5T3R for their great reviews too. Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 4 - Mashed Potatoes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Recess.**

 **A/N: I am not American and so I apologise in advance if any of my Americanisms are wrong (would also appreciate it if you told me where they are and what to use instead). Thank you and enjoy.**

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I wish I could tell you that at Christmas it snowed beautiful, twinkling snowflakes and there was a magical feeling in the air, and everyone was happy. But that's not the truth. At Christmas it poured down with rain, it hadn't stopped raining for days leading up to Christmas as well and so schools and stores had closed all over the city due to flood warnings. Christmas was particularly bad for one family - the Spinelli's. Because of the weather, neither of Ashley Spinelli's brothers could come and visit. Both Vitto and Joey had said to their parents that a little rain can't stop them but Flo insisted that they stay where they are and stay safe and so they begrudgingly stayed where they were - promising to come as soon as the weather let up. The second factor that made the Spinelli's Christmas thoroughly suck was that on Christmas Eve their power went out, and by Christmas morning it showed no signs of coming back on anytime soon.

Ashley Spinelli's mother Flo had never been one for technology, always struggling to use it, and always finding ways to over complicate things. Because of this she obviously made Spinelli call all the neighbours on _her own_ cell phone - her mother didn't have one, and her dad's was 'strictly for work, Pookie'. Spinelli managed to call all her neighbours and found out that all their power was fine, until it came to the last number…

"Make sure to call _everyone_!" Her mom called from the kitchen whilst looking for candles and flashlights.

The name _Detweiler_ stared Spinelli back in the face for several minutes before she hit _call_. It rang for a bit and Spinelli was tempted to hang up, it had been years since Spinelli had spoken to T.J. Let alone the rest of the Detweiler family, a wave of awkwardness crashed into her as someone picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Came a deep voice but still recognisable voice. It was T.J. _Great_.

"Uh-hi, this is Spin-uh Ashley Spinelli, from a few houses down." Spinelli answered, annoyed with herself for being so unnecessarily awkward.

"Oh, uh, hi." T.J. said, muttering under his breath "since when has she called herself Ashley?"

Spinelli must of heard as she replied "Since the school made me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

There was a pause of silence, and everything was incredibly awkward.

"So uh," T.J. stared, "how can I help ya?"

Before Spinelli could answer she heard Mrs Detweiler yell in the background.

"T.J. honey? Who is it?"

"It's Spinelli, Mom!"

"Oh! Are you two friends again? What does she need?"

"I don't know, Mom! She was about to say, but you-"

"Oh give it here I want to talk to her." Mrs Detweiler took the phone from T.J. and he walked back into the lounge, with strange nostalgic feelings bubbling away in his stomach after hearing Spinelli's voice for the first time in years. "Hello? Spinelli dear? How are you?" Questioned Mrs Detweiler.

"Uh hi Mrs D, I'm good but my mom made me call to ask if your power was out 'cause ours is and-"

"Oh your power is out!? Oh how awful, and on Christmas too." Spinelli took that as a no.

"Who's on the phone Jan?" Asked T.J's father.

"Oh it's little Ashley Spinelli. Sam, their power is out!"

"On Christmas!"

"I know! Oh, honey! What if we invite them here for Christmas!"

"Well the more the merrier, right?"

"Right!" Then Mrs Detweiler began talking back to Spinelli "Spinelli dear, would you and your family like to come here for Christmas until your power comes back on?" Spinelli _really_ didn't want to have to spend anymore awkward time with T.J. She was about to decline that offer when Flo took the phone from Spinelli. Flo began quickly talking and laughing with Jan and before Spinelli knew it she was over at the Detweiler residence, holding a bowl of mashed potatoes. The Spinelli's were ushered inside and, with all the commotion of old neighbours recollecting for the first time in years, Spinelli's dad didn't notice when he bumped into Spinelli - knocking the potatoes all over her clothes.

"Dad!" Spinelli cried out, her sweater and jeans now covered in food.

"Oh! I'm sorry princess, I didn't mean too - here let me-" he licked his thumb and was about to rub her face but Spinelli dodged out of the way fast for that one. The other adults laughed.

"Spinelli dear," Jan said before whispering to Flo "does she still go only by her surname?" Flo shrugged as if to say 'call her whatever'. "Why don't you head on upstairs and borrow some clothes from T.J? He should still have some smaller clothes that'll fit - oh I would let you borrow something from Becky but I gave away all her old clothes just last week - go on, just up the stairs. You remember don't you?" Spinelli nodded and muttered a 'thanks' before heading upstairs. She reached the top of the stairs, staring at T.J's door for a few moments. She raised her hand to knock when, suddenly, it opened. He'd grown, once he was almost at equal height to her but now he was noticeably taller, he had slimmed down a lot too - he wasn't lanky but he wasn't as stocky has he once was, more toned.

T.J. looked down at Spinelli, at first he was slightly awestruck and wondered if she was real, then he saw the mashed potatoes.

Spinelli stormed past him into the room as he laughed. "The hell happened to you?" T.J. asked, wiping a tear away from his eyes.

"I was holding mash and my dad bumped into me alright! Anyway your mom said I could borrow some clothes," she pulled open a draw - one in which she had remembered to be a sweatshirt draw only to find underwear and socks, she went wide eyed and closed it again with a slight blush on her face. "since when did you move shit around." she mumbled.

"9th Grade, though you wouldn't know that since we aren't friends," she looked up at him, the pain of his words evident on her face, " _Ashley_." and with that she scowled.

"Why I oughta." She said while raising her fist, he laughed and walked over to his closet pulling out a sweatshirt and throwing it on the bed, before digging through a pile of clothes and throwing some sweatpants at Spinelli - she caught them, obviously.

"They might fit," he said before walking back towards the door. "See you down stairs, _Ashley_." Spinelli turned quickly and was about to chase him but he slammed the door shut, she heard him laugh his way down the stairs and she too couldn't help but crack a smile.

The pants fit, the sweatshirt was kind of big though, she rolled up the sleeves so she could see her hands again before sitting down on T.J's bed and looking around his room. It hadn't really changed much, he'd just got new junk. The heel of her foot knocked against something, she got on to the floor to take a look. It was a box. She pulled it out - taking only a moment to consider the fact that she was invading his privacy before lifting off the lid. Inside where a couple of photo albums and loose pictures, school reports, and all sorts of other memorabilia. She took a look at the side of the box, 'T.J. - Elementary and Middle School.". She brought out the first photo album, in it were pictures of her and the gang's days at Third Street. Memories of the past flooded over her as she looked at pictures of all her old classmates; pictures of Mikey, Gus, Gretchen, and Vince were there too. And, of course, pictures of her and T.J.

"Hey Spinelli! You done y-" T.J. said whilst walking back into his room with a plate of festive-looking cookies, he stopped in the middle of his sentence as he saw Spinelli, sat on his bedroom floor looking at a photo of him and the whole gang on their last day of 6th Grade. He sat down next to her putting the cookies on the floor beside him.

"Life was so simple back then, huh?" Spinelli said quietly.

"Yeah." T.J. replied. "Cookie?" he said waving a cookie practically under her nose. She chuckled and took it.

"Oh God!" T.J. groaned.

"What?"

"Middle School is here too?! Ugh! I hated Middle School." he said as he pulled out the second, smaller, photo album.

Surprisingly, at least for Spinelli, this wasn't as awkward as she had feared. It was actually, well, kinda nice.

T.J. began to flick through the pages before he slowly stopped, it was their 7th Grade year-group photo. Spinelli was pretty sure her parents had the same one in an album somewhere. As they looked at the photo, they saw each other - and the four other members of the gang - all standing away from each other, they were stood with their new friends in their new groups. Spinelli looked back to the photo of her and the gang, she picked it up and held it next to the year-group photo.

T.J. sighed and Spinelli put the photo back down. The awkwardness that she was glad wasn't there she soon wished for, as the room was beginning to fill with a sad and cold feeling.

T.J. began flicking through the photos once again before Spinelli suddenly stopped him.

"What is that!?" She questioned with a mouthful of cookie.

"Ah shut up." T.J. replied trying to turn the page, but Spinelli took out the photo.

"What is going on with your hair!?"

"I was a bad cut alright! Now give it back!" Spinelli stood up, keeping the photo behind her.

"Ha! No way Detweiler! I'm keeping this puppy." T.J. jumped towards her, attempting to tackle her and take back the embarrassing photo. Spinelli dodged him and moved towards the door, T.J. picked up a cookie and threw it towards her - she laughed before dodging the cookie and jumping up onto the bed. T.J. quickly pulled her back down.

"Ah-ha!" He cried in victory, before tripping over the box on the floor and bringing Spinelli down with him. They landed on the ground with a thump, crying out with surprise at the fall before laughing about it a few seconds later. Spinelli had landed on top of T.J. with the picture in between them. Her arms rested on his chest while his around her waist. Their laughter died down into slow chuckles before it died all together. Spinelli realised the position they were in and a line of crimson blush spread across her cheeks and nose.

Spinelli looked at T.J. and T.J. looked at Spinelli, and for a moment nothing else existed. And in that moment T.J. did something he hadn't done, and had wanted to do again, since 4th Grade. He kissed Ashley Spinelli. It was only and quick, sweet peck, but it was enough to turn his face bright red. He looked away in embarrassment, about to move and apologize when a soft hand touched his face and pulled him back. Spinelli returned the kiss, this time longer but as equally gentle. They parted, and tree trunk brown eyes met sea blue ones.

"T.J? Spinelli? Is everything alright?" Mrs Detweiler called from the bottom of the stairs. Spinelli and T.J. both moved and sat up.

"Yeah mom, everything's," he looked over to Spinelli who was looking at photos again. "great. Be down in a sec!" he called back.

T.J. and Spinelli put the photos away and went back down stairs, spending the rest of the evening reminiscing on their childhood and playfully flirting the night away. The hours went on and eventually the Spinelli's left - returning home to find that the power was working again. Spinelli gave T.J. her number and over the next few days they spoke non-stop about everything and nothing, and when it came to New Years the Spinelli's once again went over to the Detweiler's house to celebrate. And when the clock struck twelve, two teenagers kissed in an old tree house under fireworks and stars.

When it came to going back to school, for once, T.J. was actually excited - he had even gotten up early. Good thing he did because he got a call from his friend and fellow prank enthusiast, Conrad Mundy.

"Hey T.J! You've gotta get to school man!"

"Heh, you hit your head again, Con?"

"Nah man, we've done the perfect prank for the first day back! You've gotta come see!"

"Alright, alright. I'm on my way." T.J. supposed that getting in a little early wouldn't be too bad.

As he turned up to the school, he saw Gretchen walking in. He smiled and thought to himself that maybe he could fix his friendships with the other gang members too. Conrad had text him, telling him to meet him around the dumpsters at the back of the school.

"T.J! Oh man you're gunna love this. So you know how them stupid artsy-fartsy kids that are always grindin' on your gears." The first name that came to his mind was that of Bill Mathews, who T.J. loathed entirely. Not just because he liked Spinelli, who wouldn't she's smoking, but mainly because he played the nice guy act. T.J. couldn't count the amount of times he's found Bill staring at parts of Spinelli that T.J. didn't want him staring at, before turning around to her and spewing shit about loving people for who they are and not their bodies. God, T.J. hated that guy.

"Yeah? What of 'em" T.J. asked as Conrad led T.J. into the school through a back entrance and they proceeded towards the art rooms.

"Well, tah-dah!" Conrad said as he opened the door to the art room. Paint was everywhere, canvases had been broken and cut, garbage from the trash cans had been hung over easels. It was a mess. T.J. gaped in wonder and a smile spread across his face as he thought of what Bill's face would be like. But then he saw it. A canvas, ripped to pieces, that had two words readable words at the bottom, _Ashley Spinelli_. In that moment, T.J's mind had never screamed more curse words.

"Don't you think it's a good idea for us to have come in early to work on our final pieces, huh?" Asked a familiar voic, down the hall from T.J.

"Sure is, Bill." Replied Spinelli, not particularly paying attention as she was busy thinking of a certain someone. The small group of art students walked down the corridor before stopping suddenly and gawking at the mess that was their art room. Spinelli looked at T.J. and T.J. looked at Spinelli. She scowled and ran off, Bill followed her.

"Hahaha, oh man look at their faces! T.J, hahaha, look!" Said Conrad, but instead of responding T.J. ran after Spinelli. He found her at the front car park, Bill had gripped her hand to stop her from running, she yanked it away and continued to leave the school. T.J. ran after her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Spin! Please, I-"

"Fuck off T.J! I don't wanna hear it." Spinelli stormed out of the school and back home. Where she cried for the first time in years. T.J. on the other hand got blamed, along with Conrad, and got two months worth of detention. And ignored by the only girl he had truly ever felt anything for.

Months passed on by, and both Spinelli and T.J. became increasingly more miserable. Spinelli had to start _all_ her work over again and couldn't stop thinking of T.J. - and T.J's parents began fighting more than ever and he couldn't stop thinking about Spinelli.

He did everything he could to try and apologize, he called and texted her a thousand times - but she had blocked him. He even went to her house at the dead of night climbed the tree by her bedroom window, he was about to knock and explain, but she had left the window open, and he heard her crying. And now every time T.J. looked at Spinelli, instead of getting a twinge of happiness in his heart, he got a striking pain of sadness. Spinelli on the other hand, questioned if she even had a heart anymore, for her, the world that was once vivid and bright - filled with colour - became dull and grey and, _lonely_.

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 **A/N: This is my longest chapter yet! I hope you enjoyed it, (a big old bowl of T.J. and Spinelli for ya) and thank you for the reviews!**


	6. Chapter 5 - Wednesday

**Disclaimer: I do not own Recess**

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Mud clung to her clothes and was matted in her hair. Gretchen had woken up on the ground next to her pickup truck, not really sure how she had gotten there. Fortunately none of her possessions had been damaged and her telescope was still standing, it appeared only she was a mess. A looming sheet of dark grey was above her and in the distance she could hear the faint shake of thunder, she looked at her wristwatch, 5:47 AM. ' _Crap.'_ She packed everything away carefully before getting into the car.

She tried to recall the events that had happened last night. She remembered driving to the gas station and seeing T.J, she remembered driving up the hill and setting up her telescope, she remembered stargazing and reading her magazine, and...and she remembered the meteorite. She remembered the bright light as it broke apart into six smaller ones and then - nothing. What had happened? Had she fainted perhaps? Gretchen came back into focus as she drove along the overgrown dirt road away from the hill. Suddenly, she slammed on her brakes, stopping the car at the sight of an old friend who had stumbled out onto the street looking far worse than Gretchen. Vince was practically covered head to toe in mud and, unlike Gretchen, the mud on him looked wet.

Vince had woken up in the same overgrown place he had found whilst walking last night, he didn't understand why he had fallen asleep there, let alone in wet bog-like mud. After he had woken up, it took him about half an hour to find the road, where he was now, face to face with Gretchen Grundler. At first he didn't even recognise her. Not that she had changed a lot in appearance but more so the fact that Vince had just... _forgotten_ about her.

Gretchen rolled down her window, aware that even though Vince _was_ her old friend he was now a school celebrity and she; a brainiac, nerd, outcast, and stereotypical school loser, should _not_ be talking to him according to all of the social laws of highschool. But still...she wanted to make sure he was okay. "Vince? Are you alright?" Gretchen asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I, uhh, tripped..." Vince said as he began walking over to the car and scratching the back of his neck, his face scrunched up in confusion as he felt something strange, as if there was indentations on his neck. ' _Probably mud.'_

"Well can I, um give you a ride?" Gretchen asked.

"Oh no, it's okay. I'm kinda... _muddy_." Vince said, once again noticing truly how dirty he was - it was like he had _bathed_ in mud.

"Well, I'm not that much better." Gretchen said, Vince looked down at her and saw that her dress was torn a little and quite dirty, her knees were scuffed with dirt and it looked like there was a little dry blood on there too.

"You sure?" Vince asked.

"Don't worry about it." Gretchen said with a smile. Vince went over to the passenger side and got in and Gretchen began to drive off. ' _Even under all that mud he still looks rather attractive, how is that fair?'_

"Huh?"

"What? Is something wrong" Gretchen questioned.

"I thought, did you just say something?" Asked Vince.

"No, why?"

"Oh never mind aha… guess I'm just, hearing things." He said. ' _Did I hit my head or something? The hell…'_

Gretchen shrugged him off and continued to drive. A fog of awkward tension began to creep into the car as rain began to spit down from the sky.

"So, uhh, do you still live where you used to?" Gretchen asked as she switched on the windshield wipers. ' _Looks like it'll storm all day.'_ They approached a traffic light and stopped.

"Yeah, it does." Replied Vince. Gretchen looked over at him with much confusion. "What?" He asked.

' _He can't...No. Don't be stupid Grundler.'_ "Uh, nothing. You never answered me though, do you still live-"

"Twelfth Street, yeah. House 8." They sat in silence for the rest of the way back to Vince's house. Vince was submerged in his own thoughts whilst Gretchen was trying to focus on driving as the rain got even heavier and thus the roads busier but eventually they had reached their destination.

"Well this is me. Thanks for the ride." Vince said as Gretchen pulled up at the curb outside his house.

"You're welcome, uh bye." Gretchen said as Vince exited the car, he waved as she left before going back inside and heading straight for the shower. As Vince went inside he saw that the time was just past 6AM. ' _Great.'_ As he showered he considered skipping but then decided not to, knowing that coach would kill him. But damn, for the first time in a while all Vince wanted to do was sleep but instead he was awake, and would be subdued to the same repetitive shit at school all day long.

Frazzled and confused. That's how Spinelli felt. What had happened last night? Why was she still wearing the same clothes? Had she fallen asleep? No...those, those lights! ' _What were they?'_ She reached out to shut her window but missed it. She blindly fumbled more before finally turning to actually look at the window. "Fucking..." ' _Did it fall off or am I just that fucking short.'_ She looked up to the window it was there, but she wasn't. She looked down at herself seeing that she was the same colour as the pouring rain; transparent. Panic pounded through her veins as she got off her bed and looked into the mirror. She wasn't there. "What the fuck!" Spinelli ran to her bedroom door, reaching to open it but instead going right through it. She was in the hallway. And the door was closed. Spinelli walked through the door again going back into her bedroom. She stood there for a second, completely confused. The rain continued to pour growing heavier and heavier, thunder cackled in the distance. "WHAT THE FUCK!"

Sitting up suddenly, T.J. awoke the same way he fell asleep, to the sound of someone screaming. He was in his treehouse and was absolutely soaked. He rushed toward his house shivering from the cold and teeth chattering like wild. He fumbled in his pockets looking for his keys, _shit_ , they weren't there _._ He saw his mother inside and shakily tried to knock on the door. Jan jumped before rushing to the door and unlocking it. "T.J! My God, are you alright?! Oh you're freezing let me get you a towel! Where you out there all night? Oh look at you!" She said as she wrapped a towel around T.J. and ushered him upstairs toward the bathroom.

"I-I'm f-f- AACHOO!"

"Oh my poor boy." Jan started up the shower for T.J. who stood practically frozen next to the sink, he glanced up in the mirror and-

"M-m-m-m"

"What is it T.J. honey?"

"What's all this commotion about so early?" Asked Sam groggily before seeing the state of which T.J. was in. "The hell happened?! You look like you got pulled straight out the river! God, you're freezing!" Sam said as he touched T.J's face.

"Sam help him, I'm going to go call the doctor."

"Alright, okay son let's get you warm come on." Sam helped T.J. get out of his soaked clothes until he was in just his boxers and got him into the shower, that to T.J. felt like fire. "Come on T.J. you gotta warm up, here." He handed T.J. a warm cloth to help T.J's frozen body adjust to the vast temperature difference. Slowly T.J. began to stop shivering and warmed up. '... _my hair.'_ T.J. eventually warmed up enough to leave the shower by this point his father had also left to get ready for the day. T.J. wiped away the now steamy mirror and looked at his hair. Sure enough his hair was lighter, a firework of white hair twirled and intertwined with his usual brown locks, the white strands of hair exploded from the crown of his head and thinned out into individual streaks of light toward his bangs. ' _What the fuck?'_

"T.J. sweetie, the doctor is here. Put this on honey." His mom handed him his dressing gown and helped him into his room, snot raced out of his nose continuously, and when he sneezed it was even grosser. He sat on his bed as a doctor (otherwise known as Doctor Hughes from five doors down) came into his room and took his temperature.

"Yep, you've got a fever. Not much I can do though, keep warm, get some rest, and drink plenty of water." Doctor Hughes patted T.J. on the shoulder and muttered a 'call me if it gets any worse' to Jan before leaving.

"I just called the school and told 'em you were off sick son, heh they almost seemed happy about it." Sam said. Jan gave him a warning glance but T.J. just chuckled, a chuckle of which turning into a coughing fit.

"T.J. honey I really have to go to work today but I don't want to leave you alone so I'm going to call the neighbours and see if anyone can come check up on you every now and then okay? In the meantime you snuggle up and stay warm." She planted a kiss on his forehead before leaving his room already dialing a number into her phone.

Also taking a day off was Mikey. Though he wasn't really sick he just said he was so he could get out of going to school. His acting skills came in handy in those kinds of situations. He had spent his morning baffled by the strange scar that cascaded across the back of his hand in a strange shape. It almost looked as if an electric tree had started growing under his skin. He was very confused. He tried searching up what it could be. ' _A rash? An allergic reaction perhaps?'_ But to what? He tried to recollect upon what he had done last night though it mostly seemed a blur. ' _Odd.'_ The only thing Mikey could find was that his strange mark. He decided he'd keep an eye on it just incase it got any worse.

Mikey moved away from his rickety desk and back to bed, glancing out of the window he saw that the rain had gotten so heavy that it looked as if sheets of water were just falling from the sky instead of individual droplets. Macbeth mocked him from his nightstand and the years of being pushed around and bullied drowned him all at once much too quickly. He hid under his covers and tried to calm him breathing. Words. How could they be both his passion and torment! And then he calmed down the best way he knew how. Food. Mikey had always liked cooking and eating had always brought him comfort - which probably wasn't the healthiest way for him to deal with his problems but that's what he did. He made himself an omelette and began to watch a breakfast talk show. Talk shows were definitely one of Mikey's guiltiest pleasures. Benjamin and the others often spoke of how talk shows are _epitome of modern societies disrespect for the arts_ since they had no 'real message'. But Mikey liked them. The host was currently discussing some celebrity gossip about a love triangle between people who Mikey had never heard of, but the host still managed to make him laugh. Just then the phone rang. Setting his omelette aside Mikey answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hiya sweetie, how you feeling?" It was his mom, she hadn't even been at work for an hour and was already checking up on him.

"Oh still pretty rough but I've managed to have some breakfast so I guess that's good."

"Oh that's great honey. You know I'm thinking that there must be a bug going around. Jan just called, you remember Jan don't you?" He didn't. "T.J's Mom," Well, now he did. "He's come down with something too, she wanted to see if I could check on him but you know how it's been since I started this new job and all the hours! My lord! Oh and you'll never believe what Moira…" Mikey set the phone down and poured himself a glass of orange juice. He figured his mom probably wouldn't even notice. And he was right, when he picked up the phone she was still going. "And so if you're feeling up to it that would be great."

"Sorry I didn't catch that first bit mom what'd you say?"

"I said, I told Jan that you could check on T.J. at some point. I figured it'd be fine since they're only a block away but if you really aren't that well then I can tell her no." Now, Mikey didn't particularly care for T.J. that much anymore and he even though that what he and his friends were like to other students was really rather awful. But the thought of him being alone and sick stuck a pin in him moral compass and he just could resist.

"No, it's fine mom. I can check on him."

"Oh that's great! I'll call Jan and let her know, thank you sweetie."

"No worries mom." And with that Mikey went back to his omelette and talk show. T.J. could wait until the celebrity love triangle story was over at least.

* * *

 **Lol so it's been like months but here ya go. This isn't much but it's all I got for now. And as for not updating in a while I have no other excuse that the fact that I am a literal piece of human garbage but anyway. And big thank you to all my lovely reviews very much appreciate it!**


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